Shloka 65
सौवर्ण कमलाक्षस्य तारकाक्षस्य राजतम् | तृतीयं तु पुरं तेषां विद्युम्मालिन आयसम्,उनमेंसे सोनेका नगर कमलाक्षके, चाँदीका तारकाक्षके तथा तीसरा लोहेका बना हुआ नगर विद्युन्मालीके अधिकारमें था
sauvarṇaṃ kamalākṣasya tārakākṣasya rājatam | tṛtīyaṃ tu puraṃ teṣāṃ vidyunmālina āyasam ||
Vyāsa said: Of those three strongholds, the golden city belonged to Kamalākṣa, the silver city to Tārakākṣa, and the third—made of iron—was under the lordship of Vidyunmālin. The passage underscores how power and protection can be built upon dazzling material splendor, yet such fortresses remain part of a larger moral order in which pride and domination invite eventual reckoning.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Material grandeur and fortified power (gold, silver, iron cities) can symbolize dominance and pride, but they do not stand outside moral causality; worldly strength remains subject to a higher order where misuse of power leads to consequences.
Vyāsa describes the three distinct cities/strongholds and assigns each to its ruler: Kamalākṣa rules the golden city, Tārakākṣa the silver city, and Vidyunmālin the iron city—setting up the background for their collective might and the events that follow.